Your 4 Step Guide To A Better Night’s Sleep

I think we all could agree a little more slumber in our lives would be a dream come true, pun intended. Sleep is grossly underrated. In the world of health we have an affinity to talk about exercise, work environment, and food at length but for some reason sleep is an often overlooked topic. Sleep should be as common a touching point as all of these other topics. We spend, or at least we should be spending 7 hours or more every single day sleeping. Anything else in our lives that consumes 7 hours of our day would be heavily discussed so we should be showing sleep that same attention.

So without further adieu let us change the conversation and add to our healthy living arsenal. Here is your 4 step guide to a better night’s sleep.

MANAGE SCREEN LIGHT AT CRUCIAL TIMES

In an era of smartphones, laptops, tablets and televisions in every room it is important to monitor how soon before sleep you are staring down the barrel of your phone screen light. Screen light tricks your brain into thinking it is still daytime. The problem with that is your body continues to dump stress hormones in your body in preparation for the stresses of the day. If your body is busy doing that then it isn’t busy dumping the necessary sleep hormones into your body to prepare you for a good night’s rest.

Try decreasing your screen light brightness once the sun goes down and there is no more light outside. Also try shutting down all devices a minimum of 15mins before sleep. These hacks will give your brain enough time to shift the focus to relaxation and slow down brain activity. Resist the urge to pick up your phone during sleep to check it by either leaving it in another room or placing it on its face so you don’t notice any notification lights throughout the night. If you tend to fall asleep to the television being on be sure to set a sleep timer on it. Although you are sleeping the background light is still registered by your brain which makes it confusing for your body resulting in inadequate sleep.

A POWER NAP COULD MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE

The question always comes up on if a power nap is actually beneficial or is it just an excuse to getaway with no real tangible benefit?

Well the infamous “power nap” is an effective tool to stave off sleep deprivation. A 20-30min nap can increase alertness, improve decision making and productivity. Anywhere from 1pm-3pm is a prime window to escape for a little while and get in that well deserved nap.

WHEN IT COMES TO CAFFEINE TIMING IS EVERYTHING

The conversation of caffeine comes up all the time. We’re not here to discuss the idea of caffeine more specifically coffee being good or bad for you. Depending on who you talk to the idea of coffee will either be ridiculed or glorified. Regardless of our love or hate for coffee the fact remains that in Canada we drink a lot of coffee so it’s a topic that needs to be touched on. According to a 2015 CBC report Canada ranks 3rd in the world in coffee consumption only trailing Netherlands and Finland. It is also very accessible with Canadian coffee powerhouse Tim Hortons having one establishment per every 9,000 Canadians.

So for you coffee drinkers the timing of your consumption is so important. Getting your coffee fix in a minimum of 6hrs before sleep is so important as the affects of caffeine on sleep cannot be ignored. As a general rule of thumb 4pm should be the cut off for your last sip of coffee. Following this rule will really help your quality of sleep.

THE 10-2 RULE

No we’re not talking about driving for beginners here. We’re talking about a man or woman’s best friend after dogs and diamonds, your liver. Your liver is responsible for so many body functions and it is imperative that it is getting all the support it needs. Between the hours of 10pm and 2am is when your liver is in repair and the highest levels of melatonin (a sleep hormone) are available. With that being said the more sleep you get between the hours of 10pm and 2am the happier your liver will be.

There you have it. Your 4 step guide to better night’s sleep. Follow these simple steps and you will wake up more refreshed than you did this morning. Unless it’s a Monday morning, nobody likes Mondays. Enjoy!